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The Black Walnut Tree 'And Everyday Use' By Alice Walker

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Recommended: Importance of heritage conservation

When someone uses the word heritage, you come to think about your ancestors and how they lived differently from us now. However, not many people cherish this as the word just slides into one ear and out the other. Cultural heritage objects that resemble our past are extremely important to collect and understand how they relate to your family. In both life and literature, heritage can be greatly diverse, however, all cultural heritage is important including the objects that carry it and should be protected. In both stories” The Black Walnut Tree” and “Everyday Use” the main character faces conflicts about a cultural heritage object that means a lot to them and their families, but have to devise a solution to their problems. In the short story …show more content…

The story consists of Mama and her two daughters Dee and Maggie. The conflict begins when Dee arrives in town, strutting how much she has learned about her African heritage. She also changed her name to Wangero to further more show her heritage. The family had a few quilts that were woven by their ancestors that dee adored, so she wanted to keep them for herself. However, Mama wanted maggie to have them because she had made a promise she did not want to break. Dee was very upset about this as she knew that maggie would end up ruining them. "Maggie can't appreciate these quilts", she said. "She'd probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use." (Walker). The conflict was resolved when Mama decided to give the quilts to Maggie because they were still close as mother and daughter and she worked harder for them. However, soon after she changed her mind and told her two daughters to share the quilts and handed one or two of them to Dee. This story shows that the preservation of cultural heritage is extremely important to some people and that to others it is not. “In either case, artifacts are worth preserving and conserving to maintain our world’s history.” (BR Howard Conservation). This quote supports Dee's argument that the artifacts or the quits deserve to be put on display in her home where they can stay out of harm's

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The narrator and her children feel the quilts symbolize generations of war and poverty that their family endured over the years. On the other hand, not all family members share the same appreciation for the quilts. Adopting a different culture after going to college the oldest daughter, Dee, appreciates the quilt for being part of her legacy. She can't believe that the quilt was handmade. "These are all pieces of dresses Grandma used to wear.

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In “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, the meaning of heritage is admired differently by a family of the same background. Dee who now has an education and understands her heritage feud with Mama and Maggie who appreciate their heritage. Although they all come from the same household, their differences get in the way when it comes to the most valuable items in the house; including the churn and dasher that Mama and Maggie still use daily, the handmade quilts made by Grandma Dee, and how Dee is blinded by the truth of her own heritage. Dee wants the churn and dasher for decoration purposes only stating “I can use the churn top as a centerpiece for the alcove table,” (Walker 272.)

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“Maggie can’t appreciate these quilts! She said. “she’d probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use.” (walker). This shows that dee really wants the quilts but not for the reason her mother wants.

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Mama promised the quilt to Maggie. Mama wanted to ensure the family treasure would be used for everyday purposes and not put on display. Mama’s beliefs and decisions in the story were compelling and added to the complexity of the relationships between the characters. Mama, Maggie and Dee wanted to preserve the family heritage, but in different

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Ms. Johnson didn't have an education, yet she knew the value of the quilts and she didn’t let a few words from Dee change her decision of giving the quilts to Maggie. Dee leaves her mother’s house quite upset and tells her sister, “You ought to try to make something of yourself, too, Maggie. It’s really a new day for us. But from the way you and Mama still live you’d never know it” (Walker 12).

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This new outlook on her life caused Dee to place different values on the items with which she had grown up. She wanted to take the items as things to put on display like art hanging on a wall. Dee even wanted the cherished quilts to “hang them” (Walker, 1973) instead of using them as blankets. As she saw it, to use the quilts for their original purpose would destroy them, or as she said, “Maggie would put them on the bed and in five years they 'd be in rags” (Walker, 1973).

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(Nancy Tuten) agrees by saying, "Mama's distaste for Dee's egotism is tempered by her desire to be respected by her daughter.” The Mom’s character changes during the quilt scene, as she realizes that Maggie shares the appreciation of culture and heritage, and Dee's appreciation is entirely different from theirs. During the quilt scene, Dee is demanding Mom to give her the quilts, and Mom says, "when I looked at her like that something hit me in the top of my head and ran down to the soles of my feet.” In other words the daughter who she has always thought so highly of knew little of their culture and had little appreciation for their heritage. Walker creates the “mom” character to help defend her point, which is the importance of upholding the values and traditions in the African American

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These quilts are a ways of honoring her African American heritage and to be given these was very significant in their culture. For once Dee sees the historical background because of the stitching and material used, but doesn’t find any use in using them. Dee is going to try and convince her mom to let her keep the quilts, when Dee says, “Maggie can’t appreciate these quilts!” (Walker 721) and “You just will not understand. The point these quilts, these quilts!”

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